Dr Tony Shaw: Rimbaud (Arthur)

Showing posts with label Rimbaud (Arthur). Show all posts

25 March 2019

Arthur Rimbaud quotations, Place de la gare, Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes (08)

Libellés : Ardennes (08), Charleville-Mézières (08), French Literature, Rimbaud (Arthur)

Around part of the paved area of the Place de la Gare (also called Square de la Gare) in Charleville-Mézières are stones set into the pavement containing some of the words of the poems of Arthur Rimbaud. I show these below, with the name of the work in brackets.

'On n'est pas sérieux, quand on a dix-sept ans' ('Roman').

'[...] la grande route par tous les temps [...] je m'évade' ('L'Impossible')

The lines here don't follow on, and aren't even in the order Rimbaud wrote them.

'Les Fleuves m'ont laissé descendre où je voulais'

'J'ai rêvé la nuit verte aux neiges éblouies'

'Et j'ai vu quelque fois ce que l'homme a cru voir !'

'J'ai heurté, savez-vous, d'incroyables Florides'

'J'ai vu des archipels sidéraux !'

'Ô que ma quille éclate ! Ô que j'aille à la mer !

'Glaciers, soleils d'argent, flots nacreux, cieux de braises !'

('Le Bateau ivre')

'Par les soirs bleus d'été, j'irai dans les sentiers'
[...]
'Et j'irai loin, bien loin, [comme un bohémien]'

('Sensation')

'Départ dans l'affection et le bruit neufs !'

('Départ')

'Ô fécondité de l'esprit et immensité de l'univers !'

('Génie')

'J'ai tendu des cordes de clocher à clocher; des guirlandes de fenêtre à fenêtre; des chaînes d'or d'étoile à étoile, et je danse.'

'Je ne pourrai jamais envoyer l'Amour par la fenêtre'

('Phrase')

'Qu'il vienne, qu'il vienne
Le temps dont on s'éprenne'

('Chanson')

'Le chant des cieux, la marche des peuples ! Esclaves ne maudissons pas la vie.'

('Matin')

'des piliers d'acajou supportant un dôme d'émeraudes'

('Fleur')

'Elle est retrouvée.

Quoi ? — L'Éternité.

C'est la mer allée

Avec le soleil'

('L'Éternité')

Again, this is a bit of an odd mixture of pieces from 'Adieu'.

'nous entrerons aux splendides villes'

'J'ai créé toutes les fêtes, tous les triomphes, tous les drames.'

'Il faut être absolument moderne.'

'Un grand vaisseau d'or, au-dessus de moi, agite ses pavillons multicolores sous les brises du matin.'

('Adieu')

And finally, this monument, depicting Rimbaud's head, stands close to the entrance to the station. On the other side is another quotation from 'Adieu': 'je suis rendu au sol avec un devoir à chercher'. Some sites say Michel Gillet sculpted this for the centenary of Rimbaud's death, but then it appears that Gillet died in his eighties in 1991, so the truth seems unclear.

My Arthur Rimbaud posts:
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Yanny Hureaux: Un Ardennais nommé Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud and the Vilains bonhommes, Paris 6e
Rimbaud's 'Le Bateau ivre' sculpture, Paris 6e
Arthur Rimbaud, Parc Balnéaire du Prado, Marseille
Arthur Rimbaud in Charleville-Mézières cemetery
Arthur Rimbaud in Roche
Arthur Rimbaud quotations, Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud memorial, Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud murals in Charleville-Mézières
Rimbaud and Verlaine in Camden Town
Arthur Rimbaud museums in Charleville-Mézières
Arthur Rimbaud in Attigny
Arthur Rimbaud and Hervé Tonglet in Charleville-Mézières

24 March 2019

Arthur Rimbaud memorial, Place de la gare, Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes (08)

Libellés : Ardennes (08), Charleville-Mézières (08), French Literature, Rimbaud (Arthur)

The original bust of Arthur Rimbaud in the Place de la gare in Charleville-Mézières was placed there by Rimbaud's brother-in-law Paterne Berrichon (Pierre-Eugène Dufour), the poet, painter and sculptor. It was destroyed in World War I. In 1927 Alphonse Colle replaced the bust, although it too was melted down during the Vichy régime. The third bust by Dumont, seen here and modelled on Colle's, replaced the second bust in 1954.

23 March 2019

Arthur Rimbaud and Hervé Tonglet in Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes (08)

Libellés : Ardennes (08), Charleville-Mézières (08), French Literature, Rimbaud (Arthur), Tonglet (Hervé)

The 1997 sculpture of Rimbaud by Hervé Tonglet, a sculptor from Ardennes, is in the Place Jacques Félix in Charleville-Mézières, right in front of a school named after him.

21 March 2019

Arthur Rimbaud 'chair-poems' in Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes (08)

Libellés : Ardennes (08), Charleville-Mézières (08), Goulet (Michel), Rimbaud (Arthur)

Alchimie des Ailleurs, by Michel Goulet (2011)

This artwork is a result of a number of organisations working together, and was revealed in October 2011.

Michel Goulet, the sculptor from Québec, made these eighteen 'chair-poems' in stainless steel as a link between the Musée Arthur Rimbaud and the Maison d'Ailleurs. Here, there are eighteen extracts from Rimbaud's works, each one followed by an unpublished poem by a contemproary Francophone writer. I show each chair, plus the name and nationality of the poet.

Mathieu BROSSEAU (France)

Liliane WOUTERS (Belgium)

Denise DESAUTELS (Québec)

Jean-Pierre VERHEGGEN (Belgium)

NIMROD (Chad)

Samira NEGROUCHES (Algeria)

Marie-Claire BANCOUART (France)

Ferdando d'ALMEIDA (Cameroon)

Vénus KHOURY-GHATA (Lebanon)

Linda Maria BAROS (Rumania)

Michel A. THÉRIEN (Canada)

Alise KOLTZ (Luxembourg)

Jean-Marc DESGENT (Québec)

Amadou Lamine SALL (Senegal)

Christien PRIGENT (France)

Éric BROGNIET (Belgium)

Jean-Paul DAOUST (Québec)

Pierre-Alain TÂCHE (Switzerland)

Michel Goulet also created the literary chairs in Montréal, also (all) viewable on my blog here.

20 March 2019

Arthur Rimbaud museums in Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes (08)

Libellés : Ardennes (08), Charleville-Mézières (08), French Literature, Rimbaud (Arthur)

There are two Rimbaud museums in Charleville-Mézières, the main one being in a 17th century water mill over the River Meuse, the other which is called La Maison des Ailleurs. Both were closed at the time of our visit.

Le Musée Rimbaud, the former watermill.

On the same street as the Musée Rimbaud, diagonally opposite, is the Maison de ailleurs, an almost empty museum in a house where Rimbaud, his mother Vitalie and her children lived from 1869-75. The red 'Maisons des Illustres' sign notes that he wrote his first poems here, where he lived from the age of fifteen to nineteen.

19 March 2019

Arthur Rimbaud in Charleville-Mézières cemetery, Ardennes (08)

Libellés : Ardennes (08), Charleville-Mézières (08), French Literature, Rimbaud (Arthur)

The first thing you see on entering the town cemetery in Charleville-Mézières is not a grave but a post box, but a special post box where letters addressed to Arthur Rimbaud are posted.

I'm unsure about this cut-out of Rimbaud. There's a button to press but nothing happens.

The graves of Vitalie Rimbaud (née Cuif), Arthur's mother, and Rimbaud himself. Vitalie died in her 81st year in 1907. Jean Nicolas Cuif, Arthur's maternal grandfather, is also buried here. He died in 1858 at the age of 60.

Arthur Rimbaud (1854-91) died in Marseilles at the age of 31.

Arthur Rimbaud murals in Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes (08)

Libellés : Ardennes (08), Charleville-Mézières (08), French Literature, Rimbaud (Arthur)

In a sense, Charleville-Mézières is Arthur Rimbaud because everywhere you go in the town his presence can't be avoided: the tourist tat here, in an ordinary shop, is testimony to that. Er, if you want a bust of Rimbaud, small or large, then come here. An yet more authenticity, and much more understanding, exists here, as in the commissioned murals. A different poem was asked of each artist. These are only some of them, and more are to be added to walls.

La Bohème, 13 Rue de Gonzague.

Voyelles, 11 Rue de l'église.

Ophélie, Rue Michelet/Longueville.

Le Bonheur du val, Avenue Charles Boutet.